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The latest installment of the Big Little Lies limited series picks up with Amabella now being bitten by one of her classmates. Once again, Renata blames the bullying on Jane’s son Ziggy, adding more stress to Jane’s life. She’s already tangled up in visiting the man who assaulted her years ago after Madeline and Celeste find him online and learn that he lives and works nearby. In this episode, we see a different side of Jane starting to come out as she takes her gun to target practice and smokes weed while she drives to her assailant. It was a trip she had planned to make with Madeline and Celeste but instead she goes it alone. We only get a glimpse into her meeting with him but never learn how it ends or if she confronts him. Instead, we just get an image of her screaming and banging the horn in her car, speeding home and getting pulled over by the cops.

Meanwhile, Madeline is having her own car troubles when she gets into a crash with her co-worker and director at the theater, Joseph. He picks up her and takes her “for a drive” to discuss their relationship. The discussion erupts when they crash in the parking lot. Joseph injuries seem serious, but he winds up coming out of it okay, and it becomes clear that the crash more or less shocked the relationship right out of them as they recede by their families for the love and support they need.

Love and support are two things Celeste certainly isn’t getting at home as she continues to navigate her murky and abusive relationship with her husband Perry. Here, again, we see her going to therapy without him. It’s probably for the best, since she finally comes clean –after some serious pushing from her therapist — just how physically abusive and harmful Perry can be.

Again, I loved this episode and how they’re slowly building the tension to the explosion that I expect the final episode will be. However, NOTHING that happens in this episode — with the exception of Celeste’s trip to the therapist — happens in the book! Because this tawdry relationship between Madeline and Joseph doesn’t exist in the book, there’s never a car crash in the novel either. And because Madeline and Celeste never tell Jane they found her assailant in the book, Jane never goes to visit him. If the show was going to add so much story to fill the time of seven episodes, why didn’t it just stick to the book and shorten the series to six episodes instead of seven? But again, the story is still well done, the acting great, and the editing –especially the audio editing int his episode– is incredible.

The murder is still a mystery but the motivations between characters continue to build in the latest installment of Big Little Lies. Once again, the children’s teacher notices some tension between Ziggy and Amabella, encouraging Jane to take her son to a child psychologist. The psychologist determines he doesn’t have the characteristics of a bully and in fact may be getting bullied at school.

Meanwhile Jane is starting to feel a release and a new interest in men after revealing (in the last episode) that she was raped by a man named Saxton Banks. Madeline looks up Saxton Banks online and shows a photo of him to both Jane and Celeste — a big shift from the book. In the book, Madeline and Celeste keep their knowledge of Saxton Banks to themselves without bringing it up to Jane.

Meanwhile both Celeste and Madeline and working to conquer and succumb to their troubled marriages. Celeste visits her therapist again — this time, alone — and Madeline cheats on her husband with her co-worker at the theater! Soon after, we learn that this isn’t the first time something like this has happened between them.

I have to say, having Madeline cheat on Ed is a HUGE change from the book and one of which I am NOT a fan. Madeline’s character in the book is nutty and intense, but still likable and having her make a decision like this is the very opposite from likable, especially when Ed is …pretty good. Now it makes sense why the show has put such an emphasis on this whole “Avenue Q” storyline; it was all to build to the tryst and relationship between Madeline and the director of the show. Madeline’s work is mentioned many times in the novel but is not a focal point by any means, and we certainly never learn the names of her co-workers through it. That said, I have to admit I love the following scene in which Madeline very openly tells Celeste what happened and Celeste just laughs and laughs (probably because Celeste doesn’t have the ability to be as open with Madeline, and her secrets are so much darker that Madeline’s little makeout session seems trivial to Celeste).

I’ve noticed that in these past entries, I’ve pointed out a lot of changes the show has made from the book. While I’m not a fan of shows and movies changing adaptations from the story we already know and love, I still love this limited series version of Big Little Lies. Reese Witherspoon’s acting in it is some of the best we’ve seen from her. The show has also done an excellent job at making Celeste and Jane as complicated as they are in the book, which can sometimes be hard to do onscreen when we don’t get to read their thoughts like we can in the book. The editing on the show and all of its random flashbacks and quick shots are incredible and add little pops of knowledge and feeling in a way a book simply can’t.

The backlash against Renata’s daughter not inviting Ziggy to her birthday party continues in this third episode of the Big Little Lies limited series. Finally, an episode where things really get moving. We see and hear less from the other parents in the school as part of the investigation and instead delve deeper into the lives of our main characters: Madeline, Celeste, Jane …and Renata? (Renata is an important character in the novel, but certainly is not central to the story; however it appears the creators of the series are trying to make her more of a central character here. Maybe that’s just what happens when you have someone as good as Laura Dern playing the role.)

This episode takes us through Renata’s daughter, Amabella’s, birthday party. Because everyone in class was invited except Ziggy, Madeline arranges for Ziggy and several other kids and moms to instead go to “Disney On Ice” in lieu of the birthday party, stirring up all kinds of mom drama.

Meanwhile, Ziggy accidentally leaves the class hippo behind at “Disney On Ice,” sending his mother, Jane, into a spiral over what the moms will say about her. Jane then reveals to Madeline her big secret: that Ziggy’s father is a man she met in a bar who assaulted her. Madeline’s older daughter decides to move out of the house and in with her father because of the stress she feels in her mother’s home. Celeste and her abusive husband see a counselor together.

This episode takes big steps in moving the story forward. The veil is starting to lift on the darkness of Jane and Ziggy, as well as Celeste and her husband. The episode also somewhat redeems Madeline, making her more likable than in the second episode by showcasing how much she genuinely cares for others.

But there are a couple of striking changes between this episode and what happens in the book. Jane’s assault is described much more vividly in the novel. Jane explains to Madeline that the man who assaulted her also verbally assaulted her, calling her fat and ugly. The fact that he called her that is vital to understand Jane as a person. Her lack of confidence in her body and herself all stem from that singular moment. With those verbal details left out of the series, we’re led to believe the assault was strictly physical when, in fact, it was also emotional, and emotional scars also last a lifetime.

The episode also takes a big jump when we see Celeste and her husband go to couples therapy. Though initially timid, they eventually open up a lot about their abusive relationship in a way that’s so dissimilar from the book, I was shocked. It seems as though the series to trying to humanize her husband? But why? He’s horrible. Celeste’s storyline in the book is so great because we get to watch her become stronger and stronger. By going to therapy with her husband and initially lying about the details of their marriage, she comes across more weak than strong. It’ll be interesting to see how the rest of this plot is played out in the series knowing that it added this twist.

The tension between mommies and daddies builds in this second episode of the limited serious version of Big Little Lies, as we get deeper insight into Madeline’s marriage and Celeste’s. We see fewer flashes of police activity alluding to the horrible incident that eventually happens and instead more flashes of graphic and violent sex, as well as the now-recurring images of Jane running down the beach in a blue dress.

Another incident in school happens in this second episode, with the girls daring Jane’s son, Ziggy, and Regina’s daughter, Amabella, to kiss. Though it’s hard to say since we never actually see it. Instead, we only witness the buildup to and aftermath of the “kiss,” much in the same way the show refers to the murder that makes up the main plot of this story.

The kiss that the children are “pushed” to do in class is not part of the book, Big Little Lies. It seems the writers have added this incident as a device to further build tension between all the parents of the children involved. The writers divide the couples even further when, in the episode, Celeste and Madeline attend the same yoga class as Madeline’s ex-husband Nathan and his new wife, Bonnie. Then we learn that Bonnie has helped Madeline and Nathan’s teenage daughter to get birth control pills, pushing Madeline to hate Bonnie even more — and rightfully so! As a stepmom, she absolutely does not have the right to help the teen get birth control when her birth mother is still an active part of her life. This is yet another plot point added to the series that is not part of the book. Yet another thing the series adds in this episode is Madeline’s ex-husband and current husband meeting up for a little “chat,” which quickly turns into a heated exchange.

All of this is an attempt to show the motivations each adult has for one another and adds to the suspense of who’s been murdered and who’s the murderer. All that’s well and good, but it also strays from the book and, in my opinion, just further drags out the story that’s already full of suspense and intrigue. These added scenes and scenarios also make Madeline far less likeable from the way she comes across in the book. Yes, she’s a little nutty in the book, but we still like her.

The show does a good job, however, of foreshadowing some of the big moments to come, including the introduction of Harry Hippo — yes, he actually matters in this story! — and finally we see how abusive Celeste and her husband’s relationship really is. However, her openness about it with Madeline at the bar is a complete 180 from the book.

So far, the show continues to keep in line with basic plot points, and while I see why it’s adding what it’s adding, I don’t know how necessary it really is.

A blur of flashing red and blue lights, flashes of women in pearls, and images of Elvis and detectives spin in a dizzying display of a dress-up event gone wrong in the opening minutes of the premiere episode of Big Little Lies. The HBO limited series is set to adapt the bestselling Liane Moriarty novel of the same name over the course of seven hour-long episodes.

The density and complexity of the novel certainly lends itself to being a limited series and not a movie that would inevitably leave out plot points for time. That said, the premiere episode starts off a little slow. It focuses on exposition, bringing both the drama of the “Blonde Bobs” — or crazy mothers — around which the murder mystery story revolves and the comedy — particularly from Reese Witherspoon, who plays the character of Madeline.

School orientation is a stressful day for everyone, including children and parents. Madeline proves as much by almost getting into a car crash with a car full of teens, including her daughter from her first marriage and then twisting her ankle. This is where the story starts, in a flashback after the first few minutes establish someone has died at a school fundraiser. This opening episode stays (mostly) true to the story, setting the tone for the tiny beach town of stuck-up mothers and their precocious children.

We meet Madeline, her daughters, her husband, ex-husband and his new wife, Bonnie, as well as Madeline’s best friend Celeste and new friend Jane. Each has kids in the same first grade class, where little Amabella is apparently choked on the first day by a boy in class. She places blame on Ziggy, Jane’s son, who denies having hurt the little girl.

That’s about as far as we get into the story, but in some beautifully shot flashback images, we get the idea that Jane and Celeste have some pretty haunting histories. The visual markers of this are perhaps less subtle than those in the book, but they certainly grab attention.

Differences from the book include the story happening in California instead of Australia and the kids being in first-grade instead of kindergarten (perhaps another year allows for them to be more mature and have more of a voice than in the book?). The series also softens the relationship between Madeline and her older daughter. While they’re sour with each other in the first half of the episode, they have a nice moment at the end that doesn’t really happen in the book until — well, ever. In the show, Ziggy also asks his mother why Amabella said he choked her when he didn’t. That doesn’t happen in the book. While that may seem like a minor detail, it’s really an important one for the overall story and works to make the viewer more sympathetic to Ziggy and Jane.

But the story is so good, the setup so well done, the child actors so good, and Reese Witherspoon’s portrayal of Madeline so comically spunky, there’s no doubt I’ll be watching the rest of the series.

If you haven’t yet read Liane Moriarty’s huge bestseller, Big Little Lies — don’t worry, I haven’t yet either!– there’s now more incentive to do it. The bestselling novel is coming to HBO in the form of a limited series.

According to Collider, the series is set to debut in 2017, and it looks awesome. I only found out about this a few weeks ago when I was watching HBO and saw the trailer.

The series stars Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Adam Scott and Laura Dern. It’s interesting that it’s set to air in this way on HBO, but apparently the story is complex enough to warrant more than your standard 120-minute feature, and the cast is so good, well, does it really even matter how long it is?

Meanwhile, this isn’t the last we’ll see of Liane Moriarty adaptations. According to Variety, Witherspoon and Kidman have already teamed up to produce a movie version of Moriarty’s Truly, Madly, Guilty.

Promises are meant to be broken, right? Well, George R. R. Martin is doing just that. The latest Game of Thrones book he promised to have finished by early this year and published by March isn’t finished yet.

According to Los Angeles Times, he wrote a truly apologetic message to fans on his blog Saturday, explaining “Believe me, it gave me no pleasure to type those words. You’re disappointed, and you’re not alone. My editors and publishers are disappointed, HBO is disappointed, my agents and foreign publishers and translators are disappointed… but no one could possibly be more disappointed than me.”

For all those who were desperately awaiting the next book in the “A Song of Ice and Fire” series, entitled The Winds of Winter, they’ll simply have to wait a little longer. But here’s the interesting part; Martin says spoilers from the upcoming book may still be revealed in the upcoming season of the HBO series, due to return in April.

Asked if the season would include spoilers, he said, “Maybe. Yes and no.” But he also said, “Some of the ‘spoilers’ you may encounter in season six may not be spoilers at all… because the show and the books have diverged, and will continue to do so.”

Not having read the books or seen the show, I can only imagine what fans must be thinking. I think it’s fair at this point to consider the show and book series separate. That said, the concept of Martin revealing some upcoming plot lines of the novel in the new season is pretty thrilling — for both viewers and readers.